Two dominant in Miles Leaks and Markiest Houston are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Piedmont Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Rocky River Ravens at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hopefully Piedmont focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Friday.
Last Friday, Piedmont came up short against Marvin Ridge and fell 54-47. While losing is never fun, Piedmont can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 300th, while Marvin Ridge is ranked 116th).
Despite their defeat, Piedmont saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Leaks, who scored 14 points, was perhaps the best of all. Leaks scored a full 29.8% of Piedmont's points, the second time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Nate Francis, who scored 7 points along with 5 assists and 5 rebounds.
Meanwhile, it was a hard-fought game, but Rocky River had to settle for a 53-51 defeat against East Mecklenburg on Friday. Rocky River has struggled against East Mecklenburg recently, as their game on Friday was their fifth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite their defeat, Rocky River saw several players rise to the challenge and make noteworthy plays. Houston, who scored 14 points along with 9 rebounds and 3 steals, was perhaps the best of all. Houston hasn't dropped below two steals for eight straight games. Another player making a difference was Shamari Johnson, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Rocky River were working as a unit and finished the game with 19 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as East Mecklenburg only racked up ten.
Their wins bumped Piedmont to 3-3 and Marvin Ridge to 4-1.
This contest is shaping up to be a blowout: Piedmont hasn't had any problem running up the score this season, having only averaged 53 points per game. It's a different story for Rocky River, though, as they've been averaging only 64.2 per game. The only thing between Piedmont and another offensive beatdown is Rocky River. Will they be able to keep them contained? Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
